When the media are this gutless, is it any wonder that most Americans are indifferent to the destruction of their rights?

The government is at fault and is to blame for its violations of our rights, but the media are complicit. And, as Arik Hessedahl said in the All Things D post I linked to yesterday, the American people are the boss. We are the ones who grant the government these powers, and we, individually and through the media, have done a spectacularly bad job of holding government agents responsible when they overstep their legal boundaries and when they abuse the power that we allow them to have.

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5 thoughts on “The gutless media”

I’m not sure “gutless” is the correct term to describe the US media, in general, or the “Old Gray Hag” in particular. “Fawning” or “complicit” might be a better fit. I doubt the James Rosen story would have received much coverage if the AP story had not “pricked” the media’s comfortable bubble. The NSA story then caused the NYT editors to “lose their cool”, if only briefly.

One wonders who from the White House or DOJ called the NYT and “yanked on their leash”.

I did say complicit, and I stand by gutless. It is gutless of them to fawn over politicians with whom they agree, and to shy away from criticizing them out of fear of losing access, rather than being analytical and investigative in their inquiries into government power and the abuse of it. Which, after all, has traditionally been one of the main roles of the media, a role that they have abrogated egregiously for the past five years, and for which we all suffer as the abuse of government power erodes our liberties.

Once you get past Fox, the WSJ and the Washington Times, there ain’t much NEWS to be had in the media.

The “Old Gray Hag” aspires to be the “policy shop” for the left; and, is critical only when “her” policy dictates are not followed slavishly. The NYT editorial and opinion pages began leaking onto page one years ago. The rest seem to follow the lead of the NYT, including the E&O leakage..

The questions asked at WH press briefings and conferences are only slightly sillier than the answers (or non-answers).

Even if the media somehow experienced a “Damascus event”, it is highly unlikely that DOJ would prosecute, no less start by prosecuting its own.